Opening up
by Faberrittanainthetardis
Summary: Spaily fic from a prompt on Tumblr: Paige starts to have a panic attack and immediately removes herself so Emily and Spencer don't see it. Unfortunately her disorientation leads to an accident. Paige/Spencer/Emily ship.


**The prompt stated in the summary is based on a headcanon on my blog if you want to check it out. The link to my tumblr is on my bio and the tag you'll find the headcanon under - among various others - is 'Spaily headcanon'. **

Paige shot up in bed with a sharp gasp, her hands shooting to her throat. There were no hands closed around it, no blade pressed against her windpipe as she'd expected to find. Her hands came into contact with nothing smooth, slightly sweat dampened skin. A glance around the room assured her that nobody was there but her breaths kept coming in sharp gasps and she could feel her chest tightening with panic.

She glanced to her left and her right to find that Emily and Spencer were both still sleeping soundly. Usually their positions would be different, usually Emily would have been in the middle but Emily and Spencer must have noticed that Paige was unusually quiet last night as they'd more or less demanded that she sleep in the middle, something that only happened when Paige was upset about something.

Paige felt her skin prickle with fear and she knew that she had to get out. She couldn't let Emily and Spencer see her as she experienced a panic attack and the fresh air might cool her down. Wrestling off the blankets, Paige crawled over Spencer and got off the bed. She was just about to head for the door when a soft groan sounded from behind her.

"Paige? Where are you going?"

Paige slowly turned to find Spencer squinting at her, obviously barely awake. She cringed at the realization that she'd managed to wake Spencer up by crawling over her. Spencer was a light sleeper. She really should have crawled over Emily, the other swimmer wouldn't have even stirred from slumber.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to get a glass of water." Paige said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. Hoping to convince Spencer she leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. "Go back to sleep."

With that said she turned and left the room, closing the slightly ajar door behind her. She could feel her body burning up slightly, her breath quickening as images from her nightmare continued to loop in her mind. He was there, in the graveyard, grabbing her arms, forcing her into the back of his car. She could still feel the stickiness of the tape as he placed it over her mouth. She slipped outside into the backyard, leaving the door open behind her by a fraction. She shivered against the cool air but it did nothing to relieve her of the symptoms of her fear.

"Oh God…" she muttered, stumbling forward on shaky legs. Her vision was blurring with panicked tears and she suddenly felt like she was going to throw up. Her hand moved to her abdomen as she continued to walk forward, fleeing from something that wasn't even there. She wasn't even aware that she was nearing the pool, not until she felt something wet under her feet. Even then she only had a split second of realization before her feet flew out from under her. She threw her arms out to grab something to steady herself but there was nothing to grab onto. She fell into the pool, knocking her head on the stone edge. Her world turned black immediately, even before she hit the water.

XXX

The first thing Paige became aware of as she approached consciousness was the thumping on her chest. Not the thumping of her heart, a physical thumping. A moment later she coughed as water rushed up through her lungs. She felt herself being turned onto her side, the water splattering against the floor beneath her.

"Paige?" that was Spencer's panicked voice, Paige realized with a start as she was carefully pushed back onto her back. She blinked up at Spencer, trying to ignore the pain in her head, "S-Spencer?"

Spencer gave a soft sob of relief and Paige's brow furrowed in confusion. Everything was foggy and she hadn't a clue why Spencer would be crying. She glanced to her left to find Emily kneeling next to her in much the same condition as Spencer, only Emily was dripping wet to boot. She was panting slightly, possibly from exertion.

"I fell into the pool." She stated hoarsely. Emily must have jumped in after her and dragged her out. She shivered slightly against the chill.

"Come on, let's get inside." Spencer said, carefully gripping Paige's arms to help her stand up. When they were both on their feet Paige swayed dangerously and Spencer locked her arms around her waist, holding her close. "Em, could you go ahead and get some towels? We'll be up in a minute."

"But…" Emily trailed off, glancing unsurely at Paige.

"I've got her, don't worry." Spencer had clearly managed to compose herself as she was taking control of the situation. Emily on the other hand was obviously shaken and didn't want to leave Paige alone, even for the few minutes it would take Spencer to get Paige back upstairs. "Emily I can get her inside, I just don't want you to catch a cold out here. You're soaking."

"I-I'll be f-fine Em." Paige stuttered out, shivering uncontrollably against Spencer. "Go."

Emily still looked reluctant but after a moment of hesitation she turned and walked briskly back into the house.

Spencer huffed out a sigh before she freed one arm from Paige's waist and shuffled around to her side. Without a word she began to lead Paige into the house. It took them a while as Paige needed to stop every few seconds but the journey to the bedroom was made in uncomfortable silence. Sensing that Spencer was angry about something, Paige didn't dare break it. They made it to the bedroom and found Emily waiting for them. She'd already changed from her soaked shorts and tank top into a t-shirt that reached mid-thigh. She was standing near the edge of the bed, holding a bath towel. The next few minutes were a blur for Paige as Spencer and Emily helped her out of her damp clothes and carefully wrapped her in the towel before setting her on the edge of the bed.

"I hit my head." Paige mumbled, her hand flitting to the back of her head. Spencer's hand joined it, gently probing the area.

"There's a bump but I don't think it's too bad." Spencer surmised, more to Emily than Paige herself. "She might be concussed."

Paige winced and withdrew from Spencer's touch, unconsciously leaning towards Emily. "Why are you mad at me right now?"

A dark look flashed over Spencer's features before she managed to control herself. "I'm going to get you some dry clothes."

Spencer got off the bed and Paige turned to Emily in confusion.

"She's just worried." Emily shifted her hand to Paige's back and leaned forward to press a light kiss to Paige's forehead. "You know Spencer, she just needs a minute."

Paige shook her head and moved to get up only for Emily to hold her down.

"You should take it easy." Spencer stated, walking back towards them with clothes in her hand. She tossed them onto the bed before taking her previous seat next to Paige.

"I'm sorry." Paige apologized quietly, her eyes fixed on her lap. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"We know you didn't." Emily reached out and took one of Paige's hands in both of her own, giving it a gentle squeeze. "_Right_ _Spencer_?"

Spencer was silent for a moment before she slowly angled herself towards Paige. "I'm not angry with you Paige. I'm just frustrated that you don't trust us enough to wake us when you have an attack."

Paige shrugged sheepishly. "You know I don't like to bother you with this, it's stupid."

"You're not bothering us and it's not stupid." Spencer's voice was tinged with irritation but it wasn't focused directly at Paige. She was irritated with the whole situation, even with herself. "What bothers us is that you push us away. You distance yourself even though this is something we can help you with. And look what happens when you do. What would have happened if I hadn't woken up tonight? What if Emily couldn't drag you out of the pool?"

Paige nodded, rather ashamed of her thoughtless actions. Spencer was right, of course she was right. "I'm sorry."

"Paige, we don't want you to be sorry." Emily said softly, her hand rubbing comforting circles over Paige's skin. "We want you to open up to us, that's all. We hate to think of you being alone when this happens."

Paige sniffled slightly against approaching tears. "I'll try."

Spencer and Emily shared a look over Paige's head. They weren't exactly satisfied by the answer but trying was all they could really ask for.

"Do you need anything for your head?" Spencer asked softly, her fingers grazing over the back of Paige's hand. "I can get you some Tylenol from the bathroom."

"I don't think it's that bad." Paige answered, hesitantly looking up at Spencer. "I'm just cold."

"I'm going to make you some tea, I'll be right back." Spencer lingered for a moment before she turned and walked out of the room.

"Am I imagining things because I hit my head or was she looking for a reason to leave?" Paige asked, staring at the open door.

Emily chuckled softly. "You're not imagining things, she just needs to process." Without missing a beat she grabbed the clothes from the bed and stood up.

Paige slowly stood up and held out her hand to take the clothes only for Emily to lightly swat her hand away. Paige exhaled softly but accepted that she wasn't going to win this disagreement. Instead when Emily motioned for her to drop the towel she did it without question. She didn't say anything as Emily helped her into some dry shorts, her gaze fixed on the door. "Do you think Spencer is still mad at me?"

"No." Emily straightened up, looking Paige in the eye. "She was never mad at you in the first place."

Paige nodded, lifting her arms so that Emily could help her into the old band t-shirt Paige loved to wear to bed. It was fortunate that she hadn't worn it earlier otherwise it would be soaked like her other clothes. As soon as the t-shirt was on Paige stepped away from Emily and hurried to get under the covers, positioning herself in the middle of the bed. She remained sitting up however, aware that Spencer would probably be worried about her drifting off if she had concussion.

Emily smiled softly but quickly joined her, shivering herself. She curled an arm around Paige's waist and pressed herself closer, resting her head against Paige's shoulder.

"Thank you for pulling me out." Paige said softly, her eyes sliding closed as she leaned her head against Emily's.

"Of course, you would have done the same."

"The same as who?"

Paige opened her eyes to find Spencer walking towards the bed, a mug of steaming liquid in her hand. It was placed on the bedside table before Spencer slipped under the covers and huddled close to Paige, unconsciously mimicking Emily's position.

"It's nothing." Emily answered quickly, aware that Spencer was probably beating herself up enough about the fact that she'd frozen for a moment while Emily had dove right in.

"Spence, how did you know that something was wrong?" Paige asked curiously, her hand finding Spencer's under the covers. "I mean I told you to go back to sleep."

There was a brief moment of silence before Spencer spoke up. "You kissed me too hard before you left the room so I figured that something was going on and you didn't want me to know about it."

"Oh." Paige tried to recall the force behind the kiss she'd given Spencer but she found that she couldn't recall it. She remembered the pressure of lips but she couldn't recall the exact details. "I'm sorry."

Spencer exhaled through her nose and turned slightly, pressing unmoving lips against Paige's cotton clad shoulder. "Stop apologizing, we're not angry."

"We're really not." Emily agreed from the other side.

"Drink your tea, it'll warm you up." Spencer pressed the cup into Paige's hands, being careful not to spill it. "You shouldn't sleep for a while because I'm worried about your head but we'll stay up with you."

"You don't have to…"

"We want to." Emily interjected before Paige could even get her words out. "We know we don't have to."

"Okay." Paige smiled softly into her cup, resisting the urge to argue. If she was going to try letting Spencer and Emily in now was as good a time as any to start.

THE END.


End file.
